


The Night Sky

by keylimepie



Series: Charlotte 'Verse [4]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Background Poly, F/M, Flying, Gabriel Fluff, Gabriel and Kids, Gen, Kid Fic, M/M, Multi, Parenthood, Polyamory, Step-parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-16
Updated: 2016-08-16
Packaged: 2018-08-09 06:07:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7789600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keylimepie/pseuds/keylimepie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gabriel goes to the roof to relax, admire the night sky, and have a little flight time. But he's not alone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Night Sky

**Author's Note:**

> Back from vacation! Wrote this in my notebook while I was out there, just getting it posted up for you all now. :) Enjoy!
> 
> Pssst, it is part of a series and may or may not make much sense without having read the rest of it.

Gabriel stepped through the hatch onto the roof of the bunker. It was a clear, moonless night, and the sky over Kansas was thickly dotted with stars. He tilted his head back and looked up, inhaling deeply. Arms outstretched, the archangel greeted the night fondly. 

A clattering sound cut into his reverie. Someone was on the ladder he’d just climbed up, and in a moment, he spotted a small head covered in pale blonde hair peeking up through the hatch. “Hellllooooo,” called a little voice tentatively. 

Gabriel chuckled. “How’d you find me out here, Lottie?” He walked back over and squatted down next to her. 

She beamed up at him proudly. “I followed you.” 

He was somewhat taken aback. People couldn’t follow him. Angels couldn’t follow him. How had he not noticed a tiny human soul trailing him through the bunker? Truly he must be preoccupied. Yes, this visit to the roof and a good long flight to clear his head were much overdue. “Do you need something, Sweetness? Aren’t you supposed to be sleeping?” 

“I’m bored and not sleepy,” she declared, bouncing up and down a little. “What are you doing here? I didn’t even know you could get outside here.” She stepped up on the last rung of the ladder, prepared to jump onto the roof. 

“Whoa whoa there Missy! You should not be out here,” he chided gently. 

“You’re out here,” she whined. 

“I can fly,” he replied, realizing his tactical error a split second too late. Charlotte’s eyes popped open wide. 

“I wanna fly! Take me! Take me! Can I go?” she exclaimed, bounding out of the opening towards him. 

Gabriel stood up and caught her up into a hug and kissed the top of her head. He was quite confident in his ability to mind the child on the roof and to take her flying with perfect safety. He had kept her alive on more occasions than even her parents knew about, after all. On the other hand, he was also quite confident that if the others ever found out that he had done such a thing, he would find himself in rather a lot of trouble. And while trouble with Dean and Castiel was a storm he could weather just fine with an irritable attitude and some well-placed insults, trouble with Sam and Melanie was usually unpleasant and unsettling. Especially Melanie. Things were too new and too delicate there. He and Sam had survived years of challenges together, they would be fine. Probably. But Melanie had only moved into the bunker with them about five months ago, and though she was utterly besotted with both her hunter and her angel, Gabriel thought that she still harbored enough doubts that his position was precarious. Meanwhile, Gabriel was finding that his own love for her was growing stronger than he had imagined that it would, and he had no desire to ruin it for himself. 

“Cupcake, I would love to take you flying, but Mommy and Daddy will roast me alive if I let you do any such thing.” He smoothed back her hair. 

“You are asponsible of me too,” she insisted. “You kiss my Mommy and my Daddy and you’re one of my parents.” 

“Well… yes, that is true… but I’m outvoted on this, you see. Two against one. And human girls aren’t supposed to fly. If you were my little fledgling angel, I’d be teaching you to stretch your wings by now,” he said with a sigh. 

“We can pretend,” she said slyly. “It’s okay if it’s just pretend.” With that, she burst forth and ran across the rooftop, flapping her arms wildly, her little blue cotton nightie floating out behind her. 

“Charlotte, wait!” Gabriel ran to catch her. There was a large expanse of roof around the edge of the skylight but only a low edging all around. “You cannot run up here,” he said in his no-nonsense archangel voice, scooping her up into his arms and squeezing her a bit too tightly. She suddenly burst into terrified loud sobbing, squirmed and tried to get free. 

“You yelled at me!” she exclaimed in betrayal and indignation. “You’re hurting me! Let me go!” Oh Father, her eyes were so like Sam’s right now. Gabriel was lost. 

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Sugar Pie. I don’t want you to fall. It’s a long, long way down.” 

Charlotte choked back a sob. “So take me flying and hold onta me. Just a little flying. Not far. I just want to feeeel it.” She seized his face between her hands and pressed her nose against his. It was wet with tears and snot. 

“Pleeeeeease. I love you, Gabe.” 

Oh, that was it. He heaved a sigh. “Okay. Alright. Just real, real quick. And it’s probably best if you don’t mention it to Daddy or Mommy. Or anyone, actually.” 

Charlotte nodded her head. “If you say so.” 

He held her securely against him, twisting her so that her back was against his chest and she could look outward. Gabriel spread his wings, stretching the cramped muscles and stiff joints, then with a mighty flap, they lifted off into the night sky. 

They flew over the fields in the miles around the bunker, an endless sea of corn and soybeans. Charlotte wriggled a little with excitement, but Gabriel had a secure grip on her with his arms as well as his grace. Eventually he realized that she had extended her arms and was trying to flap them in what she thought wings would flap like, had she had any. 

“Does it feel like you’re flying, my fledgling?” he murmured against her hair. 

“Yes!” she shouted, without a hint of fear. Gabriel chuckled. 

They came upon a tree-lined river and Gabriel swooped low enough to rustle the leaves of the trees, coasting up the river for a few miles. The air was thick with the damp moldy smell of the riverbanks and they could hear the little noises of the wildlife, frogs and insects and hooting owls and squeaking bats, though the creatures stayed far from this unknown flying being. Eventually they shifted southward, toward home. They soared across the tiny town of Lebanon. He pointed out to her the little cafe they sometimes visited, and the post office where they picked up packages and letters from Lottie’s Grandma. “They’re so small,” she said in awe. “Can we go land on their roofs?” 

“No, we don’t want the humans to notice us, Lovey. And it’s time we head home. Before we’re missed.” Charlotte yawned a big yawn and didn’t protest. 

Gabriel landed smoothly on the bunker roof and stooped to set her down, but she twisted and clung to his neck. “Tired,” she murmured into his shoulder. She squirmed. “Your wings are shiny,” she said. “I wish I had wings.” 

“I do too, Fledgling. You’d be a wonderful flyer.” He kissed her nose, and in the same motion, sent her into her bed, tucked in and asleep. Gabriel shook his wings out and tucked them away, bid goodnight to the stars, and slipped down the ladder. 

He crawled into the big bed, nudging Sam into the middle. Sam merely rolled onto his side and wrapped an arm and a leg around Melanie, who was sound asleep enough not to notice. Gabriel spooned in close to Sam, burying his face in the man’s hair, and soon drifted off to something approximating sleep. 


End file.
